Realms of Jorune
Refer to Maps at the back of the Third Edition
There are many realms of humans on Jorune: Thantier, Jasp, Anasan, Heridoth, but none so powerful, or so central to the affairs of all humans, as is Burdoth. That Burdoth may be considered a realm, not just a collection of independent cities is due largely to the treaty of Klein-Khodre, and to the unexpected influence of the council that grew out of that treaty. Once the target of numerous invaders, the combined military might of the armies of Burdoth could now fend off any conceivable threat. Commanding these forces, and equipping them with the unrivalled power of the ancient Earth technology, is Prince Khodre Dhardrenn of Ardoth. Khodre Dhardrenn is the most influential and powerful man in the realm. His father, Khodre Allonkarb nearly succeeded in making a personal empire of all of Burdoth and Heridoth, but the son's aspirations are more subtle. Rather than attempting direct rule, Khodre seeks to maximize the combined power of Burdoth, while maintaining his position of influence and preeminence. His dream is that one day human civilization may span the globe, forming a civilization to rival that of ancient Earth.
BURDOTH'S BEGINNINGS - The lands of Burdoth were chosen by the Earth Colony as the primary site for settlement on the planet. With few dangerous predators and Earth-like weather and terrain, it has naturally fostered human settlements throughout the millennia. SInce the human/shanthic wars, humans have had to survive without the technology that brought them to the stars. That meant hunting, gathering, and eventually, agriculture. Most of the native food on Jorune is difficult for Terrans to digest and lacks significant concentrations of certain proteins necessary for good health. Much of the agricultural land in Burdoth is dedicated to growing a crop that rises above these drawbacks, the durlig plant created by Iscin, the Bio-Tec engineer of the original colony. Most of the Burdothian economy is based on agriculture and, of the provinces, Gauss Valley is the largest exporter.
Over time, the humans built their population steadily, bringing the realm's total count to more than a million. The capital city of Ardoth alone holds several hundred thousand. Travel between provinces is mainly by thombo, though coastal cities are more easily reached by sea. The boundaries of the realm are geographically simple. Burdoth's north is bordered by the Assydre's Sea, west by the Doben-al, south by the East Trinnu Jungle Lands, and east by Sychill Bay and the realm's border with Heridoth.
Humans have lived in Burdoth for thousands of years and have built up a powerful civilization centered in the city of Ardoth, the realms capital. Though considered a realm for a long time, it wasn't until 3445 before all of Burdoth was under control of a single power. Prince Khodre's drive west ran the crugar invaders out of Burdoth and left him as Burdoth's Dharsage ruler. His son's control extends into all four of the Burdothian provinces, but the Ardothian Council limits his power. Khodre's military is broken down into five armies, each under the leadership of a general. Each province is largely self- governing and should be kept so in the eyes of the council.
Provinces of Burdoth
Each province is under the authority of a sage, appointed by Khodre. Each appointment must be approved by the chells of the region. This a formality to appease the council Khodre's appointments are seldom challenged. Under the sage are several Lystra county rulers. A city's chell wields power locally. The chell of a city is its chief administrator. Defense of the city is under the supervision of the chell, as are city yords and local laws. Through he serves council with kim leaders, it is his word that usually counts.
Due to the Accord of Klein-Khodre, the dharsage shares power with the Ardothian Council, an agency created at the end of the Energy Weapons War. Its purpose is to allow various realms and provinces representation in political decision making. Council representatives include ambassadors from Tan-Iricid, Dobre, Lundere, Heridoth, North and South Khodre, Lusail, the Sobayid, Gauss Valley, and occasionally Temauntro. Khodre himself is the council's last member, though he sends proxy to act in his behalf when he is engaged elsewhere. The council's headquarters are in the Cryshell Citadel located in Ardoth.
THE ARDIS PROVINCE - Ardis is broken down into: The east coast, the Essanja, Sychill, North Glounda, Glounda and South-Glounda. Each of these areas has distinctly different terrain and climate, from the bitter Crith winds of the Sychill Lairds to the humid flatlands of South Glounda. Cities in Ardis follow:
Ardoth - One of the oldest human cities on Jorune, Ardoth is also the largest, the most powerful, and the most universally admired. See the Ardoth Essay below for more details.
Monerey - This is a charming community of 16,000 humans, muadra, and boccord who live on the ocean's edge surrounded by the beauty of forests, fields, and miles upon miles of sandy coastline. Many of Ardoth's kesht journey to Monerey seasonally where they own property. Drenn and Kesht are time-honored traditions here, more so than most other cities in Ardis. Monerey has a higher percentage of Drenn than even Ardoth. Dysha use is not permitted anywhere within the city. There are no kerning bays, and the daijic here don't make small talk. Much of the land in Monerey is owned by relatives of the dharsage. Muadra are seen as an unstable social factor to be avoided.
Mar - Located on the coast of Sychill Bay on the western edge of the Essanja, Mar is a large sprawling slum where thombos roam the streets, and beagre drag off small, unprotected children. People walk the streets of the city with staves, whomping beagre wherever they are found. This miserable infestation arose sadly enough because Ardothians stationed in Glounda late in the Energy Weapons War thought that it would be nice to bring the refugees of Polpedroth some pibber for pets. As they are eaten in Glounda, there was no harm in loading up the transport with hundreds of these cute creatures. However, the pibber in Mar multiplied rapidly and attracted beagre from the outskirts of town. The once clear city streets soon became a ruckus of beagre- pibber chases. By 3452, there were few pibber to be found, but beagre were everywhere. Conditions have not changed significantly. The shanty towns established for the Polpedrans were not very clean and this has kept the beagre fed.
Essanja - Located in a region known as "The Essanja," the city of Essanja is nestled against the Accaptas Mountain Range in the plains of Burdoth's eastern coast. The surrounding mountains cut this city off from the rest of the realm. The easiest entrance is by sea or by talmaron. The Essanja River leads from the city to the Sychill Sea, where the Port of Essanha lies. This area has long held a strong Dharsage presence, though the general populace does not know why. For whatever reason, the city of Essanja acts as the nearest trading post. Thousands of humans, muadra, and boccord inhabit small farming villages in The Essanja's southwest edge, below an area rumored to be knee deep in Corastin. The land here is not especially fertile, the people make do with their stubby coditch husks, bitter birch-bulbs, shrivelled durlig roots, and wimpy simra-vintch leaves.
Ess'ejee - Ess'ejee is a port city located at the point where the river Essanja meets the Sychill Sea. The society is strongly maritime, fishing is their main staple. Many small ships from Essejee have ventured far from the Essanja on missions of exploration. They have established trade with Yobreh, SIllipus, cities in Lusail, and they have journeyed to Jasp every decade for centuries Essejean sailors are highly sought after and often paid double or triple the fees of the Sychillian Sailors.
Glounda City - Buried deep within the Glounda forest lies the city of Glounda. Nestled in a small valley along side Lake Elgry, the city was founded in 3337 by refugees of the northern coast of the realm. Though it took time to adjust to their new environment, the Gloundans quickly learned not to touch glispeen bark, to drive the tarro from their encampments, and not to eat the trevice fern leaves (even if they do taste good.) They erected a city in the wilderness that pierces Glounda's often thick canopy. It wasn't until the late 35th century that they would greet people of common ancestry again, and by that time they had changed beyond recognition.
After the Energy Weapons War, the Dharsage was able to establish friendly terms with the city's leaders. Troops from all over Burdoth travel to the city of Glounda for military training. The forest makes an excellent and secluded training ground. It also provides condrij (soldiers) from all over the realm with neutral soil on which to meet. Between two and four thousand troops are stationed in Glounda for training at any given time. A typical tour of duty is Glounda, Gauss, Ardis East Coast, Lusail, and the Essanja.
THE GLOUNDA FOREST - The Glounda Forest is a large, mainly uninhabited wilderness region that supports a variety of both Terran and Jorune life forms. Terrestrial creatures that can be found nowhere else on Jorune have found niches in the environment there. Deer, wolves, bats, and an occasional squirrel all live within the Glounda's evergreen corridors. The forest's many glispeen trees have given way to redwoods, ferns and pines the eclipse what was once a solemn composite of native forms. Every few miles the scenery changes dramatically, from Terran to Jorune, and back again. The Krayll Road which crosses through South-Glounda is wide and unpaved. Traveler updates are posted about every 8 miles which tell beginners how much further they have to travel and what native threats exist. Seasoned travelers carry weapons when using this road in preparation for scagger attack. North is a hilled, wet region of the Glounda forest and is the preferred habitat of a handful of small grey mandare that roam the tall pale grasses in perpetual search of food. Though an encampment of thivin live nearby, they avoid the routes taken by the mandare and instead search for the carcasses after a loud mandare-to-mandare battle, hoping to find bones with which to make musical instruments. The forest is so large that its terrain and climes vary from end to end. The north is damp and cool, but very flat; heavy rains soak the ground each Crith. To the east the forest becomes more dense, and in parts, impassable. Glounda's west is lightly forested, rocky, hilly, and dry. The forest's center is lush, covered with low mountains,and perpetually warm. The southern tip of Glounda is hot and muggy. It is rocky and receives little rainfall.
THE GAUSS VALLEY - The Gauss Valley is located in Burdoth's northwestern quadrant. The original home of Iscin (the Bio-Tec engineer), this valley was the spawning ground of the blount, crugar, woffen, tologra, and bronth. Centuries after the Human/ Shanthic War, a young human, Peter Gauss, stumbled across Iscin's work, and discovered the purpose of Durlig on Jorune; until this time, durlig was considered inedible by most of the peoples of the valley. Gauss then knew that durlig was not only edible, but essential to human nutritional needs. A town grew out of the durlig fields that Gauss planted. The people no longer needed to be migratory; it was now possible to live a less strenuous life. Though pulling the durlig imposed a strain of its own, the people who ate it were healthier and stronger.
Gauss - This is the largest and oldest city in the valley. A few miles west of the city's edge is the spot that legend marks as Iscin's lab. Woffen and bronth sometimes travel to this site to see their beginnings. Gauss is known for its tremendous durlig production. Though the heart of the city is small, surrounding farms extend for miles in all directions. The durlig grown in Gauss is combined with harvests from all through the valley and is shipped south to Ardoth and the Sobayid.
Khaun Gauss - This city is another of the valley's major suppliers of durlig. Khaun Gauss has been sacked many times by crugar invaders from the valley's north and south, and also from crugar invasions over the Kuggin Mountains. Though burned to the ground several times, it has risen from the ashes each time.
Cosahmi - This thriddle town has been the principal seat of coditch production for hundreds of years. It is not known how long Cosahmi has existed. All at once thriddle appeared in the Gauss Valley, and when the humans traveled back with them to see where they were from, they found a large city of thriddle just west of the Kuggin Mountains. The city is made of several compact areas of dense housing linked by long, narrow roads. Between each "delse" (as these sub-communities are called) are fields of coditch. Scores of delse make up a single thriddle city such as Cosahmi. Over the last decade or so, Cosahmi's attention has apparently turned away from agriculture, to a somewhat mysterious obsession. Though their coditch harvests are not small, or even shrinking, cross-breeding efforts seem to have abruptly stopped as the thriddle have taken up some important task. Whatever this task may be, it occupies their time in earnest.
Salam'arine - Salam'arine is an ocean-port that exports durlig and coditch to all of Burdoth's north. The people here are strongly aligned with the peoples of Phalmre and Delmre, providing them with food in exchange for cloth and wood. Many of the goods that Salam'arine takes in are transported back up river where they are sold in the valley proper.
LUSAIL - This province includes all lands north of the Lusail river and east of the Liggit Mountains from the point where the river starts at the base of the Liggits.
Lelligire - Lelligire is one of the realm's largest cities. Located on the cold waters of the Assydre sea, this city has been hit by numerous Ramian invasions over the centuries. The most recent attack was in 3472, when Lelligire engaged a large Ramain fleet sailing off her coast. Fabrics and designs from Lelligire are known throughout the realm and beyond. The clothing of dharsage is almost exclusively Lelligirian, and the seamstresses and tailors of the rich are often brought over from this northern city.
Sydra - Sydra neighbors a large stone monument, or pyramid, that the people refer to as the Thooh'sa. It has no entrance nor engravings on its surface. It servers mainly as an oddity, a place by which the Sydrans relax in the warm air of Mullin. A few Ardothian families bring a little extra money into the areas each Mullin when they visit. It is the Thooh'sa, Scolian Rusper, and miles of pearly white sand beaches that draw families here from such a distance. The Thooh'sa's origins are unknown. Though close to Lelligire, the Sydrans and the Lelligirians treat each other with hostility. The original rage of the Sydrans was due to the discovery at the end of the ramian war of 3113 that the Lelligirians had dismantled the remains of Sydra for their own rebuilding before the Sydrans could return home. Soon after, the Lelligirians, were accosted by Sydrans wherever they traveled, stoned and insulted at every meeting. This hostility still exists.
Cushindell Marshes - This large marshland provides the means of survival for two human settlements, Phlamre and Delmre. The marsh supports a variety of Terran life, but is dominated by native life forms. The enormous insect population has supplanted animal life in parts of the marsh. Included on the long list of insects are tootles (a form of edible worm that is grilled), granthix (bulbous, small-legged beetles), pungers (climbing insects with a nasty bite), and coghtodds (big, mean, round, flat, slow-moving, pincher-bugs that nip flesh).
Phalmre and Delmare of Cushindell - Small towns on the edge of the Marshes which deal in Byrnk hardwork and other exotic items.
THE SOBAYID - The first people of the Sobayid were part of the original South-Valley Research Facility. Forced south by shanthas after the war, they settled in the low valleys of the Sobayid. Some traveled further southeast, to Miedrinth and beyond.
Sobay - Sobay is the oldest city in the Sobayid and also the one most vulnerable to crugar raids from the Doben-al and Temauntro. The city walls show the signs of thousands of years of seige and repair. Patrols from Sobay venture out as far as the Doben-Al, looking for any signs of movement on the horizon. The Burdothian army of the Sobayid is garrisoned in Sobay.
Cavris - Cavris, a small agricultural town lies south of Laindis. It borders both the East Trinnu Jungle Lands and the Doben-al, sharing both the resources and dangers of these plains. The Cavrans specialize in different Earth grains and flowers, but their real wealth comes from the sale of crystals. There are no sources of crystals nearby, so bands of miners travel west to the Doben-al in the sweltering heat of Mullin, collecting the dry, powerless crystals found there. They are then brought south to the East Trinnis, where they are buried in a secret location for upward of a generation. When eventually dug up, they are brimming with isho and carry a high value. Though the crystals take a great deal of time to recharge into maturity, this has been an ongoing practice for generations. Fearing the accidental disclosure of their buried crystal resources in the jungle, the Cavrans sell most of their crystals in Miedrinth, posing as crystal diggers of the jungle.
Miedrinth - This large southern city is a bastion of Ardothian culture in both her loyalty to the Drennship system and her political support of the Dharsage. Bordering the East Trinnu Jungle Lands, Miedrinth has occasional problems with cleash and other nasty creatures of the wilds. The city is large enough to provide most of the specialization found in Ardoth, though Miedrinth is richer in crystals, limilates, black-market Earth-Tec, and bochigon. What is lacking are talmarons (they are not native to this region), wines of suitable quality, fine clothing, and challisks. The Miedrinthian Hall of Drenn proudly display challisks. They honor their Drenn and make city leaders of their Kesht.
Thousands of beasters, crystal and limilate seekers, and jungle yords make their living off of this southern wilderness. The rest of the population is engaged in urban activities and treat the "jers" (jungle-runners) with a high level of respect. The jers are a rough, highly motivated bunch. They are used to looking out for each other in the depths of the East Trinnus - no Miedrinthian jer would ever refuse to help an injured stranger, nor walk away from a person in danger. The sense of community amongst the jers has grown since the cleash threat began a generation ago.
Baysis - This is a small community of jers who make their living off of the Trinnus. Included in this population are a few thousand muadra. All the adults are dysha literate, and many are seasoned with their skills. This is the city where the Maustin Caji trained during the Energy Weapons War, and retired at the war's end.
Coise - This city was originally a trading post and a military base for Ardoth. The road to Heridoth starts here. Called the "Eshellu," this lonely road is traveled mainly by military patrols of Heridoth and independent transports. Coise has very few contacts with Heridothians. The overland journey to the nearest Heridothian city is long and strenuous.
ISLANDS IN THE BURDOTH/HERIDOTH/DOBRE MAP
EHVANS - Originally a colony from Dowsen, this island is populated with bronth, woffen, thriddle, Essajeans, and hosts a SkyRealm. The hills of the port cove are littered with dwellings of all types. Native corastin inhabit a small patch of land on the island's northern tip. Beyond Doo'sah and D'Loo, this is the Sychill Sea's most frequented port. The rich of Dowsen visit Ehvans regularly to enjoy the cooler climes and the company of exotic visitors. The thriddle population on the island numbers in the hundreds. These creatures were brought to Ehvans near the end of the Energy Weapons War as advisers and clerical assistants to Klein Ko-Trid. Klein still lives on the island, along with his assistants. He has had only limited dealings with Ardoth since the signing of the Accord. The SkyRealm floats above the islands's northern, rocky, and unusable terrain. Talmaron are the most common means of ascending. There is a small city aboard the SkyRealm, inhabited by the island's wealthiest.
SOOD - This tiny, miserable piece of land suffers from infestations of all varieties. Ancient bronth lore tells of exiles that were sentenced to Sood, to suffer among the beagre, scragger, lirgin, dreglamon, farg, giggit and scrade. The Dobrens avoid this island.
COOMIS - Coomis is located just off-shore where the Hoodo River's meets the sea, near the bronth city of Herbis. Bronth have lived on this island for centuries and now speak a dialect that is hard even for other Boru speakers to understand. The Dobrens interact little with the bronth of Coomos. Their cultures have drifted apart over time and they now have little in common. Though their legends and religion involve Iscin, the bronth of this island have never seen a crugar, and imagine Choundra as an enormous beast, overwhelming Iscin and cutting out his throat. Should one of these islanders ever encounter a crugar, their predisposition against these creatures would necessitate prompt, brutal action.
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